A Taste of Fate
by Howl3
Summary: AUish. Greta wished to find the perfect spouse for Yuri, one that was not Ivy, the seductive blond intent on marrying the Maou and when Wolfram von Beilefeld came home, she knew that he was the one for Yuri. Now if only she could get them to see that.YW
1. Chapter 1

A Taste of Fate

Full Summary: AUish. Greta had been looking for the perfect spouse for Yuri, but nobody seems fit for the position, especially not Ivy von Valyerd, a seductive blond that intends to marry the Maou. But Greta's hopes are quickly raised when Cheri's third son that Yuri and Greta have yet to meet comes home. And Greta thinks that Wolfram von Beilefeld would be the perfect match for Yuri. Now if only she could get them to see that.

This? Simply a small break from Red October, though I won't stop updating that story. And if ya'll hate Greta, sorry, she's important simply because she intends to get Yuri and Wolfram together. Other parings? Ya'll tell me if you want that. But the main paring is Yuuram and all that obvious jazz. Also, I'm hoping to up Greta's character some. I don't hate her, and I don't like her, she's just there.

Chapter 1

Greta had never been one to hate people just from first impressions. She wasn't one to be rude, or even hateful. But she wanted to wring Ivy von Valyerd's nicely shaped neck. She wanted to sick a whole pack of sandbears on her to tear her perfectly satin skin to shreds. But most of all, Greta just wished that she would drop off the face of the planet so she could stay away from her clueless father.

She was young, not stupid. Living the way she had before coming to the castle taught many life lessons way too early, and one blonde haired hussy playing nice to get on her dad's good side wasn't going to fool her.

She truly, deeply loved Yuri with all her heart. He had saved her from a cruel fate, had taken her in and loved her when no one else would, and for that, she wanted to find him someone that would love him for him not because of his position as Maou.

And because she loved him, she refused to have Ivy fill in that position. No, she'd get rid of her somehow, she had too, for Yuri's sake. He was so clueless, completely swindled by that fake, sweet happy blond routine Ivy presented him with.

And it was clearly Greta's job to find him someone worthy of him, because no one else seemed to think there was more behind that façade Ivy put up.

This had been her mission for the past month, and so far it had gone completely down the drain. She twisted the flower held in her fingers and then stopped, feeling guilty for doing so. It wasn't the flower's fault that her father was a clueless idiot that couldn't tell that he was being played when his 8 year old daughter could.

Nope. Clearly Yuri's fault.

"How's it going Greta?"

Greta looked up and frowned when she saw it was Ivy, smiling all sweet and buttery at her. She resisted the urge to tell her that it had been going pretty well without her around.

"Good." She answered shortly, not even pretending to smile, as she had to every time they were around everyone else.

Ivy's smile faltered, and a glare entered her brilliant blue eyes, but she still continued on with the act.

"Are you having fun?"

_I was before you showed up._ "No."

Ivy's smile dropped completely off her face, and her lips twisted into a sneer, finally dropping her act like Greta knew she would.

"Look little girl, you've been irking me since I've got here and-"

"Excuse me, but I must be meeting everyone for breakfast." She said coolly and walked away with a small flare of her dress. That always served to irritate the vile woman.

…………

When Greta greeted her father and settled down to eat, she couldn't help but notice how Cheri seemed to be buzzing with happiness. She blinked. Had she missed something? She took a quick glance around the table. Gwendal looked slightly less grumpy, his mouth pressed together in a straight line rather than a frown. Conrad's smile was just a tab brighter, and not really noticeable if you didn't really know the man. Gunter looked slightly pensive, which was an unusual expression on him.

And her father looked clueless, his own eyes straying to take in everyone's expressions.

"Is uh, everything okay? Did I miss something?"

"Oh Heika!" Cheri gushed, looking as if she might spring onto him at any given time, and Yuri couldn't help but edge back a little. "My little Wolfie is coming home!"

Yuri only provided her news with a slow, confused blink. "Wolfie?"

Conrad coughed into his hand and took up explaining like he always did. "Yes Yuri, Wolfram von Beilefeld, mother's third son and my youngest half brother. He's been away training at his father's home, the Beilefeld territory. He's also one of the ten aristocrats."

Wow, another brother, one he hadn't met yet. "Is he half Mazoku like you Conrad?" He couldn't help asking curiously.

Conrad gave a laugh at that strange thought. "No, he's a full Mazoku."

But by now, Yuri was completely curious. "What's he like?"

"Oh, Wolfie's wonderful! And so beautiful to, perhaps-"

"Pease don't go there mother." Gwendal broke in, looking none to pleased with the thought of his baby brother being involved in any relationships.

Conrad only shook his head, knowing exactly what Gwendal was thinking, and perhaps feeling slightly the same way. "He's……interesting to say the least."

Gwendal shot him a look. "Not up to saying the truth Conrad?"

Conrad only seemed to smile back, but Yuri noticed that there seemed to be a hard glint in his brown eyes. "No, simply….letting things run its course."

Gwendal appraised him slowly, before he frowned. "I see."

And Yuri could see that that was the end of the conversation.

…………..

It was later that day that Greta found herself once again in the garden. Hopefully Ivy wouldn't make a second appearance. Greta could only take the ruining of her day once. But something caught her attention, as she realized she was no longer alone.

A boy kneeled a few feet from where she stood, clad in a blue uniform. He had blond hair, but she couldn't see his features from the position he was in. But at her startled gasp he turned towards her, and he was absolutely beautiful.

Lovely green eyes peered at her from an equally lovely face, much more lovely than Ivy could ever hope to be. And, Greta realized, he looked just like Cheri! This must be Wolfram then!

She hesitated to speak to him, not knowing how he was, or how he felt about humans, like some of the racist guards around here that Yuri didn't know about. But he looked nice enough.

"Um, h-hello. Are you Wolfram?"

An eyebrow was raised and she blushed, feeling slightly foolish. He stood, brushing himself off, and Greta was glad to find that he was the same height as her father, both very puny looking for one thing.

"And who would be asking?" A soft, yet slightly kind if not arrogant voice asked.

"I'm Greta."

Wolfram tilted his head. "Hm. I see, so you are the Maou's adopted daughter. Mother has mentioned you in her letters."

She twisted her fingers nervously, not knowing what else to say. So of course she was much surprised when he kneeled before her, a sweet smile blooming across his face.

"Shy aren't you? No need to be nervous of me, I will not harm you, princess."

"G-Greta. Just Greta please."

His smile deepened, and Greta found herself in love with that smile already. "Well then Greta, you may call me Wolfram."

And so, Greta spent many hours out with Wolfram in the garden, simply talking about anything and everything. It seemed strange to become so close with a stranger, but he exuded a warm presence, and it felt good, to have someone she could tell everything too. Though she said nothing of the whole Ivy situation, she didn't know if that was such a good idea yet.

It was when the two was entering the castle that the trouble started.

Greta had to deal with this everyday, and had told no one, not because of any fear on her part, but simply for her gentle father, who would be torn if he knew that even some of his efforts at uniting the humans and demons just did not always work, not even from the guards in this castle. But she had hoped to avoid this today.

She was kicked hard in the side and she could not help the gasp of pain that escaped her lips as she crashed to the ground. She felt ashamed, to have her newfound friend witness such, and even worse, Yuri and the others had just rounded the corner and witnessed the whole thing. The horrified look on Yuri's face would forever be entrapped in her mind.

But surprise quickly overshadowed her shame when that beautiful smile on Wolfram's face melted and became a snarl instead, gentle green eyes now burning with a fury she had never seen before. His hand shot out, grabbing the guard roughly by his collar and jerked the much larger man down to glare sharply into his face.

They were all surprised at the completely calm tone of voice, contrary to his rough actions.

"I'm not even going to ask you why you would do such a moronic thing. Personally, I don't care." Wolfram hissed softly. "But I want you to get out right now and never come back. You are not welcome here."

"B-but-"

"Get the fuck out!" Wolfram finally screamed and kicked the man just as hard, if not harder than he kicked Greta. There was clearly the sound of ribs cracking from the force. The man scampered away the best he could, but Wolfram ignored him, the sweet smile once again back on his face as he kneeled.

Greta whimpered slightly at the pain in her side when he pressed a hand down, no doubt feeling for broken ribs.

"Only bruised then." Wolfram raised an eyebrow. "Guess he hadn't kicked you as hard as I thought. Oops."

And that simple statement made her laugh, even if it hurt to do so.

And as Yuri approached, Greta knew, without a doubt, that Wolfram was the one Yuri needed, the one she needed as well. And she wouldn't let Ivy get in the way of making them see that either.

And as Black and Green met, Yuri met Wolfram von Beilefeld, and to say he was stunned, well, not much to explain there.

…………………….

I hope this was okay, not really sure what I'm doing with it, but I'll figure it out eventually.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Greta had been brought to Gisela to heal up her bruised ribs, and Yuri found himself waiting outside. He glanced to the side, unable to keep from looking at Wolfram. The blonde was leaning besides him, arms crossed and face blank.

"Well, um, thank you for helping Greta." He said, glad when the silence was broken. Green eyes looked at him for so long that he broke out into a nervous sweat.

"No need to thank me." The blonde said finally. He looked him up and down. "Since you look too much like a wimp to have helped much anyway."

Conrad, who had showed up at some point during their conversation coughed and hid a smile behind his hand.

"W-what?" Yuri looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach.

"You." The blonde pointed at him. "Are." He poked him in the chest. "A" Another poke to the chest. "Wimp." He finished, with a poke to the forehead.

Yuri sputtered in outrage. "What is your problem!"

"My problem is with a wimpy Maou that didn't even know his own daughter was being abused in his own castle!"

Shame threatened to drown him and he lowered his head. After a long moment of silence, Wolfram saw that he had hit a soft spot and he sighed, turning to really look at his new Maou. He was cute, and he seemed so innocent, a kind of innocence that made you just want to squeeze him because it was so adorable. Wolfram's lips twitched.

"Look, you are obviously a good father if she cares about what you feel so much." And he folded his arms and turned away to let the boy draw his own conclusions from that.

Yuri looked at him in surprise. He hadn't expected such a statement from someone that didn't seem to like him much.

"Ah, really?"

Wolfram turned to him then and stared. What was up with this kid, he was so…he smiled very slightly. "Yes. Really. Very well then, I accept you as my Maou. Don't make me regret it." And he returned back to ignoring him.

A wide smile bloomed across Yuri's face and Conrad looked pleased. Wolfram must have seen something in Yuri, because he did not submit easily.

…………

When they were allowed to enter, Greta was sitting up in her bed, and looked very pleased to see Wolfram at Yuri's side. Conrad raised an eyebrow at this and smiled. "I see." He whispered to himself.

"Greta! How are you feeling?" Yuri smiled back at her.

"I feel a lot better now!"

Wolfram rolled his eyes at the happy duo and lightly smoothed down her hair, he had always liked children. "And do you promise to tell us if something or someone is hurting you?" He asked with a stern frown.

She flinched from the look, looking properly chastised. "I promise." She replied sullenly.

Wolfram finally allowed himself to smile at her. "Good." She brightened up over the smile.

Yuri's mouth dropped as he looked at the interaction. And they had only known each other for a couple of hours! Conrad laughed quietly behind his hand. His baby brother had always been one not to care about the normal rules of society.

………………

Dinner was…strange for one thing. Ivy had gawked when she first saw Wolfram, and Yuri certainly couldn't blame her.

Greta, herself, smiled evilly when she saw how jealous the evil witch was of Wolfram's beauty, and she was even more jealous when she saw the amount of attention Yuri was paying the newly returned prince. Oh yes, Greta was very pleased.

Wolfram raised an eyebrow at the staring girl. It went on for a good thirty minutes before he snapped, snarling at her and she flinched back with wide eyes.

"Stop staring at me. I know I look much better than you could ever hope to look but please stop embarrassing yourself."

Ivy's mouth dropped but she could not find a suitable thing to say in return, and her shock turned into a glare when Greta broke out into a laugh.

"Why you little-"

"I'd love to see you finish that statement." Wolfram hissed, and Greta's smile widened as the woman drew back in fear, never had she had someone speak to her like that. The others watched the action with amused faces, all but Yuri who was watching how close Wolfram and Greta had gotten. He would have spoken in Ivy's defense, but now was not the time. Now, he just wanted to know why Greta was so immersed in Wolfram. What was she trying to do?

Contrary to popular belief, Yuri did notice things. Not much, but he did notice. And the way Greta was acting, it was as if she was trying to get Ivy to act up, so Wolfram could react in response. Was she trying to cause strife between Wolfram and Ivy? Maybe, but the blonde prince hadn't seemed to terribly like Ivy even before this. Just what was going on?

Oh, she loved this! Everytime she poked fun at Ivy and made the woman snap back in response, Wolfram came to her defense. It was a good start, to getting rid of that woman, and Greta did notice the looks her father was shooting her. Oh, he would thank her when this whole thing was good and over with.

…………..

The next day, Conrad found Greta outside, her attention fixed completely on the spectacle happening only a few feet ahead of her. Conrad came to a stop behind her and smiled. Wolfram was trying dearly to ignore Yuri who had seemed to make it his new mission to get Wolfram to react. The blonde had his back turned to the Maou with his arms crossed, his green eyes narrowed and yet his twitching mouth belied any such annoyance. Yuri was shooting off random comments that made no sense at all, with bizarre hand gestures.

Conrad laughed, and Gwendal, who had shown up couldn't keep the incredulous look off of his face.

"That is supposed to lead our country?" The man asked in reproach. But he could not deny seeing how the Maou's actions were affecting his baby brother. A smile kept trying to escape, battling quite furiously with Wolfram for control of his facial expression.

"They'd be great together." Greta said and both brothers' heads snapped to look at her.

"So that's what you are trying to do." Conrad said with a quiet chuckle.

"Absolutely not!"

Greta flinched at Gwendal's tone and it was Conrad that spoke up in her defense. "Gwendal-"

"I will not have you trying to set Wolfram up with His Majesty!"

Conrad looked him in the eye, and Gwendal found himself caught by that simple action.

"I understand how you feel Gwendal, but look at them." And the man did, watching as Wolfram finally turned around to swat at Yuri's hands that were making obscene gestures behind his head. Yuri's cry of triumph of getting him to react had Wolfram spinning around once again, but a full blown smile had by this time escaped. And Gwendal saw what the other two did, had seen it when Yuri and Wolfram had first met really, but even though he wished to protect his baby brother from relationships just yet, even he could not deny that he trusted Yuri.

And leave it to Conrad to know what he was thinking. "That's right, Yuri is the only one I would trust with our little brother."

Gwendal gave a little sigh of defeat and glared at them both. "Very well. You may do as you wish, but please not anything overbearing."

"Oh thank you uncle Gwendal!" Greta hugged his legs and he blushed, unable to keep from patting her head.

Conrad shook his head at him, Gwendal was a lot more gentle than people took him for.

"So you'll help me?" Conrad looked down into hopeful brown eyes and smiled. Truthfully, he could care less about Ivy.

And that was when Operation S.T.E.A.M. was born.

………..

Wolfram could not understand why his new King was such a….hell he didn't even have a word to describe him. The boy had been bothering him ever since breakfast, and really, didn't he have better things to do? And what the hell was a banana?

"Heika." He interrupted the babble coming from the other boy's mouth. "Don't you have studies to attend to?"

Yuri's smile became absolutely devilish. "Nope."

Wolfram's eyebrow twitched. "Don't you have duties to attend to?"

Black eyes narrowed in a smoldering look. "Nope."

Green eyes narrowed and a mouth scowled. "Don't you have anything that doesn't involve pestering me to do?"

That devilish smile widened. "N-o-p-e. Nope."

"You no good, useless, lazy wimp!"

Yuri only continued to smile at him.

……………

Ivy had never been this enraged before. Not only had she been upstaged in beauty, but Yuri was no longer paying her any attention! He usually walked with her around the garden at this time but now he was too busy with that prince! Her teeth clenched so hard that she thought they were going to crack at what scene she was met with.

Wolfram and her Yuri sat side by side on the lip of the garden's fountain. They looked peaceful, and to anybody else it would seem a truly beautiful thing, but to her, it was even uglier than her soul.

………..

Yuri glanced slightly at the male besides him. Wolfram was carefully dipping his finger into the water, swirling it around. He didn't look bored like Yuri thought he would, and he seemed truly at peace.

"It's nice, isn't it?" He asked softly.

"Yeah." Wolfram glanced up at him with a tiny smile. "I like the Garden when it's quiet. Makes it much easier to enjoy the beauty of it."

"But I think, that noise only makes it a little livelier."

Wolfram's look turned to surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when it's silent, it's just like looking at a silent beauty, and yeah it's peaceful, but also, kinda lonely. And noise would only bring the place alive, making it much more beautiful."

Wolfram stared at him for a long time before a full smile reached his lips and he leaned forward, poking Yuri in the forehead. "You are a strange one Heika, but I think I like your strangeness."

Yuri fluffed himself up in pride. "Only one of my many talents."

"Yeah right! You talentless wimp."

"I'm a very talented wimp I'll have you know!" And then he realized just what he had called himself. "Hey!"

Wolfram laughed and turned away, unwilling to let Yuri see what he had done to him, but in doing so, missed the soft smile that Yuri had in return for him.

……………….

Okay, next chapter will be fuller and more detailed. Sorry, but kinda busy at the moment to do anything else with this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

He had never wanted to kill someone with just a thought as much as he did right now. Yuri had been stalking him since breakfast and he could not believe that the other boy actually thought that he was being sneaky.

It became to much for him to bare so he turned, shooting an evil green glare, only feeling slightly satisfied at the squeak he got in return for it.

"Why are you following me?" He asked, balling up his hands to keep from out right beating his King.

"I'm hiding from Gunter." Yuri said simply, and it was such a simple answer that Wolfram forgot about being angry for a total of two seconds before he realized just what Yuri had said.

"And what does that have to do with me?" He asked, feeling somewhat scandalized.

"Gunter wouldn't think of looking for me by you, because he'd figure that I'd be somewhere else, like with Conrad or something." Another simple answer from the unbearably simple boy.

Wolfram slowly counted to ten, threw that idea out the window because counting to ten only made him madder for some reason, and instead imagined ways to slowly disembowel every person he disliked, which were quite alot, he realized.

"Why don't you stop being a wimp and go do your duties!"

"Nope!" Yuri wagged his finger and Wolfram watched it, wanting nothing more than to bite it off.

"I don't feel like it."

"You didn't feel like it yesterday, or the day before that either!"

Yuri shrugged, looking at him with big black eyes that just screamed at him to stop being a stupid jerk and to take him somewhere fun before something really bad happened.

And Wolfram finally found something that he couldn't resist. Of course, later, he would wish he did.

……………

"You idiot!" He found it slightly taxing to shout while he was running for his life but Wolfram was known to challenge the impossible.

"It wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that there was a killer Kola Bear in the tree!"

It was really a great misfortune of bad luck. Yuri had managed to get Wolfram to bring him quite a ways away from the castle, and the city surrounding it, where a single tree stood. In a burst of excitement, because Yuri usually got cranky when he didn't get his daily bought of exercise, Gunter and Gwendal's fault really, and had climbed the tree, ignoring Wolfram's call to be careful.

In fact, he had shook the tree so much with his swinging that the Kola Bear clinging peacefully to the tree had been knocked off, hence the frantic chasing.

And really, Yuri was having a great time. He was used to running for his life, because he got into all sorts of trouble, but not only was he getting enough daily exercise to last him for a few days before Gunter trapped him in his office, but now he had a new buddy in crime that didn't feel awkward because Wolfram was closer to his age, in Earth's time anyway. Because running for his life with Conrad just didn't cut it.

Wolfram could not believe this. Not only was the Moau an idiot and a wimp that refused to attend to his studies and duties, but he was laughing as well! Laughing! As if they hadn't had a mechanical beast ready to rip them to shreds behind them! Oh how he regretted falling for those eyes!

Hours later, after tripping and falling down a hill, ripped clothing and mud in places they both didn't want to think about, and watching with wide eyes as the Kola Bear found another tree to rest happily in, they was met with Conrad's knowing smile.

"You fell for the eyes, didn't you?"

And Wolfram nodded and sulked, and Yuri hid from him for the next week because that was the first time Yuri realized that his newfound partner in crime shot flames out of his hands when pissed off.

…………

If there was ever a time where she needed theme music, it would be now. She hid herself cleverly behind the bookshelves, watching as Wolfram lectured Yuri about some of the customs for foreign countries.

She waited, waiting until Wolfram was right before the shelf she was hiding behind and stuck her foot out, not wanting to do this, but knowing that it had to be done. And sure enough, Wolfram tumbled over her foot with a cry, and just as she thought, Yuri raced forward to catch him.

Wolfram landed in Yuri's arms, his own limbs having dropped the book he had been holding to snag Yuri to balance himself. He looked up at the same time Yuri looked down and they stared at each other. Greta was almost jumping up and down in her success when Yuri, having taken a small step back to help Wolfram gather his feet tripped over the large book Wolfram had been holding. Greta could only watch as Wolfram yelled at Yuri for being a clumsy idiot and marched out of the room with head held high. She sighed. Plan one: Failed.

…………..

When Greta saw how annoyed Wolfram was getting at the dinner party Cheri had cooked up, she suggested to Yuri that maybe he should take a drink to him. Happy with her idea, and wanting to apologize for the library accident, even if that really hadn't been his fault but you could never fight Wolfram-logic, he agreed.

So he headed across the distance between him and Wolfram with a glass of wine and Greta watched, hoping that Wolfram would forgive Yuri because of his kindness.

But as he got within reaching distance, Greta watched in horror as Gunter, having spotted his much loved Heika, had thrown himself with a cry of, "Oh Heika!" on Yuri, ignoring the cry of, "Gunter no! Wait-"and all heads turned and watched as the cup of wine soared through the air and right on Wolfram.

There was a long moment of deathly silence as Wolfram stood there, drenched in red wine. He looked up from where he had been studying the floor, and gave Yuri such a look that the boy jumped back in fear of combusting right where he stood.

"Oh Wolfram I'm-"

"Don't finish that statement." Wolfram hissed and made his way out of the room, cheeks red in embarrassment. Yuri's head dropped in shame and defeat. Greta slapped her forehead. Plan two: Failed.

But she wouldn't give up! She would get those two to notice each other if she had to tie up everybody in Shin Makaku that would ruin her plans if she had too!

…………………

Sorry guys, I know I said that this would be a fuller chapter, but I was in a hurry since I'm leaving for the week.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay guys, I've decided that A Taste of Fate is too boring for my tastes, so yes, it will still have the main plot to it, but I want to kick it up a noch, so things may get confusing, or not, depending on ya'll.

Chapter 4

"You seem happy."

Yuri caught the ball as Conrad threw it, a blush forming on his cheeks as he fiddled with it.

"I've been…happier." He said finally.

"Any reason why?" And Conrad smiled, because he already knew the reason.

"Well….I…."Yuri bit his lip and turned away.

"Is it because of Wolfram?" Conrad gave him a little push.

The blush grew and Yuri coughed. "Well, I guess. I mean, it's great having someone here more my age."

Conrad nodded as Yuri finally threw the ball back at him.

…………………

"Do you love somebody Wolfram?"

The blond paused, his hand lightly letting the book fall down on the table. "What?"

Greta bit her lip, wondering if this was such a good idea, but pressed on, as she had started it in the first place. "Is there, a special person in your life?"

He still looked a bit confused. "You mean…like a lover?" He hoped she knew what that was, but Greta seemed like a smart child.

To his relief she nodded. She studied his face to see if he was angry. He didn't look it.

Finally, he actually looked at her. "Why?"

"Well…I was just curious." She looked innocently up at him and she could see him falter, a hand running through his hair.

He pulled a chair from the table and sat in it, crossing his legs and folding his arms. "No, not really." He mumbled in a wistful way.

Greta stiffened slightly. "What do you mean by not really?"

Green eyes glanced up at the ceiling, hesitant to answer. "Well, There was…." He paused again. "I was supposed to get engaged…"

Oh no, this wasn't good. "Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to come back here. My life is here, not in Beilefeld." He blushed faintly at telling a little girl this, but, it also felt sort of nice.

"So we came to a compromise. I would come back here, and he would visit when he could."

Greta felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach and she actually felt sick, but she had to know, needed to know.

"Do you love him?"

There was silence for a long time, and she felt as if she would faint from the long wait, but finally, he sighed.

"No. Our marriage was originally for the profit of Beilefeld, a sort of treaty. I do like him I suppose, but…." He trailed off and she released the breath she didn't even know she was holding.

"You want someone you really love right?" She asked cheerfully, now that she knew that not all hope was lost.

He looked down at her and smiled, reaching out a hand to ruffle her hair. "Yeah, though I imagine that I would feel sorry for the poor sod, I mean, not many can handle me." He said arrogantly causing Greta to laugh.

"Hey, did you ever kiss anybody?"

Wolfram choked. "W-What?"

……………….

"This garden is so beautiful, don't you think so?"

_I live here, why are asking me this?_ Yuri wasn't quite sure when he had started having sarcastic thoughts about people, but Ivy was asking such a stupid question. But he only smiled and nodded. He could not believe that she had dragged him here from Conrad just to look at the garden that he saw everyday.

And just why was she touching him so much? He usually would have enjoyed such attention, but right now, all he wanted to do was find Wolfram and Greta and go have a picnic or something. Eating outside was always nice. Greta would like it, and he was sure Wolfram would too, though why he cared so much escaped him.

"Yuri?"

He looked down wondering if he had been ignoring her. But he froze, as she stared at him with soft eyes. He had watched many chick flicks because his mom thought it was important to, and he recognized the eyes she looked at him with. Oh crap. Her arms slid around his neck and he tried to pull away as she leaned closer.

"Hey, I-Ivy this isn't-"

"Shh, just enjoy it." She muttered as she leaned forward even more.

"Ivy!"

"I would let go of him if I were you, but I'm not, and thank Shinou for that." The voice was very welcome in Yuri's case and he pulled away from the girl, hastily making his way over to Wolfram's side. The blonde was glaring daggers at the equally angry girl.

"How dare you come stick your nose in-"

"I dare because MY Moau doesn't want a snooty little tramp like yourself. Now behave as your status demands, or I will have you thrown out."

"You can't do that!" The girl shrieked and Yuri winced.

Wolfram's smirk was absolutely evil. "Oh yes, I can." He grabbed Yuri's wrist and proceeded to drag him away. "This is my brother's castle after all." He said back over his shoulder.

Once they were in safety, the blonde dropped his wrist and turned on him, a fierce glare in his eyes. "You're such a wimp! You can't even defend yourself against a girl!"

"I didn't want to hurt her!" Yuri said defensively.

Wolfram sneered. "Oh yes, a true gentlemen."

"Hey-"

"You can't give people free reign with yourself like that Yuri! Anybody could hurt you, man, woman, or child! Not everybody is as nice at you and I don't want you to get hurt…." The blonde stopped abruptly, eyes widening at how much he had let slip away.

But Yuri's warm smile was particularly inviting. "Thanks Wolfram." Then the boy blinked. "Hey, that's the first time you said my name!"

Wolfram blanched. Great, just great. Now he would never live this down.


End file.
